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The Clockwork Universe

Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
Aug 28, 2015SeattleSaul rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A very comprehensive review of 17th century physics in Europe. The author’s premise that it gave birth to the modern world seems correct because it bridges the gap between the medieval world which reached conclusions about the physical world by reasoning about the “why” of things, rather than the “how” and experimentation to find out. Nevertheless, he explains, that even the most accomplished men (and they were all men) of the Royal Society had a firm belief in a supreme being, a designer and creator. But they also deduced that he was a mathematician, which allowed them to try to discover the workings of his universe through mathematics. This book is very readable even when the author is explaining difficult concepts. But as another reviewer noted, I too find that it jumps around a bit too much even though there is a time line to aid the reader in placing events. I thought the number of short chapters was overdone, and I would have preferred longer ones that covered a specific scientist or scientists working on a particular problem or chapters with the subject of inquiry.